Award-winning comedian, broadcaster and author Rosie Wilby reveals the surprising results of her survey asking ‘What counts as cheating?’ to investigate what the social construct of monogamy really means in the modern world of ghosting and Tinder. Surely it’s not as black and white as we once thought…? Now that we live longer, have we adapted the meaning of ‘one marriage for life’ to ‘one marriage at a time’? 

She discusses the popular myths of monogamous animals and birds, the patriarchal origins of Western monogamous relationship structures, the changing cultural views on monogamy around the world, the male and female monogamy behaviours and preferences indicated by lesbian and gay partnerships and both the benefits and complexities of more open polyamorous connections. How do we make non-monogamous relationships work? What are the rules? How do we negotiate our boundaries? How does polyamory change the conversation about breakups and challenge the traditional success / failure narrative that has always, perhaps incorrectly, celebrated relationship longevity above all else? And in a highly sexualised society, how do asexual people negotiate monogamy and polyamory? 

Doors open at 7pm, talk starts at 7.30pm – Come down early to grab a good seat!

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Rosie Wilby is an award-winning comedian, author, speaker and broadcaster who has appeared many times on BBC Radio 4 programmes including Woman’s Hour, Saturday Live and Four Thought and at major festivals around the world. The creator of global hit podcast and book The Breakup Monologues, she has spent the last decade interviewing scientists, sociologists and psychotherapists to investigate the psychology of human relationships. 

Known for an immersive and very personal style of storytelling that has earned her the nickname ‘the lesbian Louis Theroux’, Rosie has performed comedy at a sex party, participated in a ‘sex lab’ and conducted surveys asking ‘what counts as cheating?’ – all in the name of ‘research’. She uses humour to accessibly unpack the broader life lessons about improving the quality of our human relationships that she has unearthed in these unusual situations. 

Exclusive signed copies of both of Rosie’s books, Is Monogamy Dead? and The Breakup Monologues, will be available for sale after the talk. Or they are available from all good bookshops or directly via Rosie (contact her via her website or social media).